


In case of emergency: call the Marauders

by paupotter_4869



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Family, Godfather - Freeform, Godson, Late Night Conversations, Pregnancy, bashing, in sickness and in health, muggle, prongslet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 16:50:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5424581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paupotter_4869/pseuds/paupotter_4869
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble of an afternoon at the Potter's that starts when James desperately calls the Marauders. Wormtail not included. Vaguely references to Voldemort and the war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In case of emergency: call the Marauders

**Author's Note:**

> All credit to J.K.Rowling's books.

“Guys, emergency. I’m opening the Floo line, see you in five.”

True to their loyalty, in less than two minutes James Potter sees Remus John Lupin and Sirius Black arriving at his dining room through the fireplace, both of his friends startled and wands at the ready. James welcomes them with a nervous expression and looking rather pale, fingers tingled through his hair. The one-and-a-half-year-old baby sobbing on the floor just confirms something is really wrong; before James can say anything, Remus passes him by, checking for signs of a break-in or a struggle, while Sirius stays close to James and to Harry, checking them both for external injuries or signs of hexes. Except from the sobbing, the baby looks fine, and Prongs, besides the exhausted look and the bags under the eyes, he two seems unharmed. 

“My god, you look awful.”

“Thanks, Pads. Afternoon to you too.” 

“What happened? Death Eaters?” demands Remus, his voice coming somewhere from the entrance hall. 

“No--” James tries to explain, but is cut off by Sirius this time. 

“Voldemort?” 

“Don’t exaggerate, Pads--” 

“Should I call for help? I can Floo-in Dumbledore. Set an emergency Order meeting in less than five.”

“Maybe we should wait before raising the alert flag, Pads,” says Remus with reason despite the frightened look in his eyes. “I can see that the wards are up and everything seems in order, so what’s the emergency?” 

“Lily’s ill, and I need help to take care of Harry.” 

His answer is received first by an astonished silence, followed seconds later by a snort from Sirius and a grunt from Remus. The first one lowers his wand and with a big smile turns to Harry, drops to the ground to be eye level with Harry and murmurs something that sounds like “Who is this precious little boy that can’t be handled single-handed by his father?”, before scratching the baby’s chin with his jaw, the touch of the stubble making Harry giggle. 

James doesn’t have time to deny the accusation, seeing a wand aimed at his throat, Remus being the owner. 

“Whoa, Moony--”

“You serious?!”

“I’m James, he’s Sirius.” The old joke comes out as naturally as air before James can stop himself, only achieving an annoyed grunt from Remus and a chuckle by Padfoot, listening absent-mindedly while erecting a castle with Harry’s toys. 

“I swear to God I’m going to hex you. I don’t mind leaving Harry fatherless.” 

“Calm down, Moony,” says Sirius in an almost bored voice, without even looking away from Harry. And, oddly enough, his words do the trick and Remus, sighing exaggeratedly, pulls away his wand. James breathes calmly again and rumples up his hair in despair. 

“Okay, I reckon I should have send another kind of message--”

“You CAN’T call that an emergency!” Remus cries. 

“Lower your voice, Lily’s resting upstairs,” beggs James. 

Only the mention of Lily makes the other Marauder quiet. His anger expression disappears while looking at the ceiling, as if waiting to hear from Lily, but everything remains calm. And when he glares back at James, he doesn’t give him the opportunity to keep on shouting. 

“I know we set up the Floo-line only in cases where one of us was likely to get hurt, and this is one of those. Harry WILL get hurt if I stay awake one more minute trying to look after him. Moony, I haven’t slept for two days straight taking care of him and Lily. She’s been kind of sick for a week now and when Harry started bawling, I couldn’t take it anymore. I called you out of compassion for that kid. I need a couple hours.” 

Remus can’t stay mad at one of his best friends, specially when it’s obvious he’s having a rough time and he’s asked for help, which he wouldn’t do if it weren’t a priority. James knows they are out there fighting the war against Voldemort and can’t attend to stupid little things, but this is different. So he heeds the call. Obviously. Marauders help each other. 

“Of course, Prongs. It was just the stress. Tell me, what do you need?” 

“Help with Harry and Lily wants me to go to the grocery store to buy something muggle-ish I can’t even pronounce.”

“Well, it looks the Prongslet situation is settled,” says Remus with an amused voice. 

Both turn around. Sirius is sitting on the couch, Harry on his lap, and is reading him one of Harry’s favorite books, lying on the floor untouched before that, since James hasn’t been able to distract his son with the book. Sirius, on the other hand, pulls grotesque and funny faces to the child and reads with a surprising variety of voices and accents, making the reading all that much entertaining. Yes, uncle Padfoot is a natural with that kid, sighs James, not being able to hide a smile. Sirius can even get Harry to sleep when he or Lily can’t. 

“It seems so. God bless him.” 

“He’s a natural. Pity he won’t have any kids of his own.”

“You kidding? The love he has for that motorbike of his is too big to share with anyone.” 

“James...?” comes the week voice of his wife from their bedroom. In the blink of an eye James is rushing up the stairs, a perplexed Remus still talking to him--he is sure now that if he could apparate inside this house, he’d done so just to get to his wife quicker. 

“Yes? What is it, Lily, my love?” he asks as he steps into the door frame. Small smile and voice soft and caring, just to not frighten his wife as he just did with his friends, and be a burden to an ill person too. 

“I woke up and you weren’t here.” 

“Oh, you missed me and Harry? That’s cute, I missed you too today.” misunderstands James with a grin. He knows, though, what she meant--she had a nightmare and was scared for him and their baby. The question would be when they don’t wake up because of a nightmare. Whether it is losing Harry, or Voldemort appearing at their doorstep, or discovering the traitor in the midst of their closest friends; it is rare the night they get six uneventful hours of slumber. 

Not wanting Lily to be worried even when she’s sick, he jumps into the bed and embraces her tightly against his chest. He checks for her temperature. He has to refrain himself from pulling a face. She hasn’t got any better yet. 

“You’ll get sick,” Lily complaints only after a minute or so. 

“I wouldn’t mind. That’d mean I could be in bed with you all day.”

“I can think of better things to do in bed rather than laying and sleeping and sneezing and not being able to breathe.” 

“Down, tiger Lily,” chuckles James. He hands her a couple of handkerchieves to blow her nose on and summons fro the kitchen a glass of water and her medicine. She accepts it all grateful and doesn't complain once while taking the medicine. 

“Besides, if you got sick, who’d take care of Harry?” 

“Don’t worry, I’ve already called for reinforcements.” 

Lily pulls a face at him. Even sick, with those red cheeks and nose and watery eyes, though adorable, she can still sound like that prefect at Hogwarts to her husband. Though as usual, he takes it as an old joke. 

“Really, James? Again? One’d say you’re an irresponsible father.”

“Hey, he’s being fed, entertained and taken care of. What else could you possibly want?”

“My cookies,” she pouts in a murmur. 

“You truly are an insatiable woman, Evans,” laughs James, kissing her on her forehead. 

“It is Potter now. Has been for a while,” she smiles.

“I know. But I’ve always known you as Evans. Hard to change an old habit.” 

He can’t understand Lily’s answer as she shifts to get into a more comfortable position against his husband’s chest. He doesn’t mind, since he knows she’ll be fast asleep and he’ll be able to tuck her in without awakening her. 

“Go to sleep, Lily Evans Potter. I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise,” he murmurs, not sure if she’s heard him. 

When he is sure his wife is completely asleep once again, he untangles himself from her arms, wraps her up with the blankets and leaves silently the room, carefully closing the door behind him after looking at Lily one last time. 

Downstairs, he is met by Harry and Padfoot, who is carrying his godson on his back. Upon seeing James, however, Padfoot stops and turns back into Sirius, turning around to catch Harry before he falls into the ground. James drops into the couch and his best friend sits beside him, with a giggling Harry in his arms. 

“Where’s Remus?” 

“He found the grocery list on the top counter and went shopping.” 

“Can’t thank him enough,” murmurs James, closing his eyes. 

“You going to sleep here? Not in your bedroom?” 

“I’m not interested in catching any disease, thank you very much,” No matter what he’s just said to his wife in order to comfort her, he doesn’t want to spend three days straight in bed, at least not because of a stupid flue. If he could sleep for three days, he’d do it. 

But Harry’s delighted squeal as Sirius picks him up and tickles his belly forces James to open his eyes. Considering the couple of infants he’s just gathered, the living room isn’t probably the best place for a nap. The guest room would be a much preferable option, if it wasn’t for the fact that’s upstairs. 

He starts to get up when Sirius places a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. 

“Stay here, it’s okay,” he murmurs before turning to Harry. “What do you say, pup? Want to bake some cookies?” 

“Yees!! Coo'ies for eat!!” chimes Harry delighted. "Not sure about that, pup," laughed Sirius, looking sideways at James, who gives him a stern look. Harry pouts at that, somehow understanding the exchange of looks, but Sirius turns with a smile. "You know what, kiddo? If your father is asleep he won't know if you've eaten something before dinner. How does it sound?" "Great!!" squeals the baby. Winking at James, who couldn't stop his brother even if he tried, Sirius stands up from the couch with a cheering Harry in his arms and heads to the kitchen. With the door closed, James almost doesn’t hear a thing going on in there. And it’s probably for the best, remembering the last few times Sirius has tried to bake with Harry. Only one tray more or less suitable for human eating and the other two burnt to the point they could be used to murder someone with a blow. He’ll have to cook something for Lily and himself. 

But that will be later--right now, he needs to sleep, assured someone is taking care of Harry, and Lily, if she woke up and needed something. His eyes close within seconds. 

When he wakes up he’s still alone in the living room, with a blanket over him, and judging by the light coming from the outside, it’s been a couple hours minimum. His body demands a while longer of rest, but he hears faint noises from the kitchen and decides he’s spent enough time away from his son. He stands up with a yawn, stretches, folds the blanket and leaves it in the arm of the couch before heading towards the kitchen. 

Harry seems ecstatic sitting on his high chair surrounded by his uncles, who are feeding him one of those jars of baby food, blackmailed from time to time with cookies in a plate before him. They look well baked, for once, so James won’t complain much. Sirius is actually a rather good cook, but Harry for sure has inherited his mother’s culinary skills and the result of them both cooking doesn’t usually end well. 

Sirius, hand in mid-air while feeding Harry, spots James first and smiles. 

“Look who’s here, pup,” murmurs into the child’s ear. 

The baby turns towards the kitchen door and, upon seeing his father, he smiles broadly and stretches his tiny arms towards him, demanding to be held up. His father complies, having the strength to do so after the short nap, and rests Harry against his chest while seating besides Remus, both Marauders smiling friendly at them both. 

“You’ve finished eating, then?” James asks, grabbing the jar of baby food. 

“Yes I eat much!” Harry declares. 

"You ate a lot," corrects his father without stern in his tone. Though his son barely listens to him, curiously distracted by the pattern of the jumper James is wearing.

“Well, I’d say a bit more couldn’t hurt,” reckons Sirius. James chuckles and gets the spoon from inside the jar and feeds Harry another spoonful. While the baby takes his own time swallowing, the Marauders turn their attention to his father. 

“You slept well?” 

“Like a baby, thank you,” James murmurs in all honesty. “What time is it?” 

“Seven. You’ve slept for almost three hours. We were thinking about waking you up soon.”

“I’d appreciate it,” says James, forcing Harry to another spoonful of food. But, knowing his son, that look may indicate that was the last spoonful he’d allow. “And--” 

“Everything’s fine, don’t worry,” says Remus. “I bought the food, left the cookies for Lily on her bedside table too.”

“I baked with Harry two-and-a-half trays of cookies,” continues Sirius, without pretending to avoid mentioning what happened to that half portion of cookies. “Then went for a ride with the motorcycle, and bought some stuff for Prongslet too.” 

“What did you buy this time,” asks James in fear. The amount of toys and presents Sirius has bought Harry has been enough to fill the whole guest room. He can’t even begin to imagine what a life Harry would have if he ended up living 24/7 with his godfather. He is already spoilt rotten, he can’t guess what’s the next step. 

“Just a couple of things. Some new shapes for baking cookies and cakes that we can’t wait to use, right, pup?” he adds, ruffling the baby’s hair. And now that Harry’s attention’s turned to his godfather once again, James knows he won’t be able to feed him anymore, so he just moves the jar away, giving up the fight before even starting it. The nap hasn't given him any superpowers. And accepting that sign, baby Harry crawls to the other side of the table, to his godfather, who receives him with open arms. 

“Has Lily waken up?” asks James. 

“No, she’s been sleeping all afternoon.”

“I should probably check on her,” he says, standing up from his chair. 

“I checked her temperature, it’s going down,” stops Remus, grabbing his friend from the arm and sending him back to the chair. “Stop worrying, that's why you called us. She'll be fine." 

“More than fine, actually,” says a female voice coming from the kitchen door. Obviously it’s Lily, wrapped with a heavy blanket and wearing winter socks and nightcap, faint smile on her lips. 

"Mommy!!" chimes Harry, delighted, straightening his little arms towards Lily.

A well as Harry, everyone in the kitchen starts to move at Lily’s entrance. James jumps to his wife’s side, Sirius places Harry into Remus’ arms, who immediately puts the child back in his high chair, while Sirius turns to the stove. 

James, after checking Lily is indeed doing much better, guides her to the chair next to Harry, left empty by Remus, who goes to sit on the other side of Sirius’ place. In the meantime, Lily has a great time greeting Harry back by tickling his belly, who giggles hysterically; both of them happy to be with the other one after such long three days. 

“Well, family, here’s dinner,” says Sirius, coming back with a steaming pot. Remus has already set the table for the four of them with a flick of his wand. “Stew.” 

“You cooked?” asks Lily, quite impressed. 

“It’s been an overly-productive evening, milady,” Sirius replies back with a smile. He winks at Lily while grabbing his plate and serving her the first one. Though she’s hungry and that smells and looks delicious--as does most of what Sirius cooks--she waits Sirius serve her husband, Remus and himself too before starting eating, her free hand still playing with Harry. The warmth of the stew spreads almost instantly through her body, and promptly she asks for a re-fill, being the first nutritive thing she’s eaten for days. 

“There’s plenty to spare,” assures Sirius. “Enough for you to lunch and dinner tomorrow, if you want to.” 

“And I bought quite a few baby food jars, so Harry’ll be fine too,” adds Remus. 

“Thanks,” say the couple with a smile. 

“No problem.” 

“Anytime, you know that. Only--” 

“I know, I’ll refrain myself the next time. Or call you all before I get to that state of exhaustion,” agrees James. This is received by a chuckle from his wife, who runs a hand through James’ hair. 

“Poor boys. I can imagine what kind of message did James send. You thought we were under attack or something?”

“Something like that, yeah,” grumbles Remus. But Sirius just laughs, so does Lily, and James, not being able to deny the accusations, joins in, too. Even Harry, though he doesn’t understand a word, laughs with all of them. 

“I’ll control my husband.” 

“As if that’s possible, Evans. You couldn’t when you were a prefect,” replies Sirius. 

“Well, I think being a mother does give one some powers. Recently I’ve acquired the gift to refrain James from doing stupid things.” 

“Wow, that’s impressing,” praises Remus, really impressed. 

“Prongs, you tricky little bas--” 

“Padfoot,” says Remus at once, stopping Sirius on his track even before James or Lily could. And Sirius does shut up for Harry’s sake, giving him a side look, re-thinks his sentence and starts over. “When did you stop being a Marauder?” 

“Oh, he hasn’t,” Lily complains. “Wish he had, but he hasn’t. I tell you.” 

“Geez, Prongs, what the hell have you ever possibly done to get Evans that mad?”

The couple exchange an amused look and without words, accept to be Lily who explains this one. So she finishes one last spoonful and cleans her lips with the napkin before starting to explain, with a tired and unamused voice. Obviously, the story of how James turned into a doe after Lily made the mistake of accidentally calling him “Be a dear” for him to do something she doesn’t even remember anymore, almost makes Remus and Sirius cry of laughter. And of course Harry joins in without knowing him. And the relaxing, entertaining and pleasant evening turns into the night when James puts Harry to sleep and rejoins them in the living room, talking and laughing for hours of trivial things, as they so usually do. Only, this time the Marauders’ visit ends when James insists on putting Lily to sleep too after a couple hours, afraid that she’ll get cold again, and they all go to sleep, Remus and Sirius sharing the guest room, all of them more tired than they realized after this thankfully uneventful afternoon and evening.


End file.
